For the 2nd year in a row, RPI gets swept at Bright and Meehan.
One game was a classic, the other just trash.
Friday:
What a great game! And me with the pleasure of calling it play-by-play!
Harvard jumps out to a quick lead with a pass over to Sean McCann at the
right slot, and he dribbles it past Little's legs.
Then a superb individual effort by Craig Hamelin as he dekes in on Tracy
and puts it by him for the 1-1 tie.
Hamelin again, as he gets a feed from Pasco to make it 2-1 RPI.
Harvard comes right back, as Bri Farell puts on epast Little. 2-2
Going into the2nd period, Farrell with his second of the game makes it 3-2.
RPI has 3 consecutrive power playts where they are unable to convert, and it
ultimately costs.
Pasco gets the pucck on the doorstep to Tracy's left as Askew's shot from the
point goes wide left, but finds it way onto Pasco's stick. 3-3.
The 3rd period sees Harvard comeout flying!
Maguire breaks in on the left wing and heads towards the net with a defender
all over him. Takes a shot in the slot which goes wide left, but the bounce
off the board comes straight out to the right slot where Holmes puts it
right past an overcommitted Little. 4-3
Halfknight the defensemen then breaks iun on Little, slpits thhe defense and
dishes the puck to his right, where Craigen blasts it past Little. 5-3
Bartell goes back, stickhandles in front of Llittle, loses control of the puck,
Coughlin steps up, takes the puck and blasts it by Little for the 6-3 lead.
Put a fork in RPI they're done.
But, wait, not yet......
Hamelin with the hat trick on another spectacular individual effort, with the
feed from Pasco, and it's 6-4.
THen Majic breaks to the net, uses the same move that beat Maine in the
Dexter, and beat Tracy, it's 6-5.
RPI puts pressure on, but Harvard counters.
Then Little is pulled, and the faceoff is in Harvard territory eith 59 ticks
left on the clock.
Harvard wins the faceoff, dumps into the neutral zone, where Brad Layzell
takes over. He fires it crossice, and onto the stick of Chris Baird.
He takes 2 strides and fires it into the empty net from outside the blue
line, and Harvard wins 7-5.
Just an amazing game from both teams. Back and forth with high intensity.
Harvard has a lot of strength on forward lines, and the Engineers stuck in
there.
Points:
1) The line of RIchardson, Brick and Regan has disappeared. Not a factor at
all. Seems like people have adjusted, and all 3 are in a slight slump at the
same time. They did not see ice time at all in the last 10 minutes of the game.
2) Harvard has an evenly distributed lineup. They're forwards are all capable,
and their defensemen handle the puck very well. I was very skeptical of their
rating, but it seems they deserve. Harvard will be there come tourney time.
3) Power play outages for the Engineers. 1 for 12 against Princeton and Yale.
1 for 4 against Harvard. Why? Bad decisions on shots and passing.
4) I do like the atmosphere a lot in the Bright Center. It's fun and you
always have a good time, and the better the game, the better the atmosphere.
Saturday:
Talk about going to good to bad. The Engineers did not show up on Saturday.
not one line was working, the power play was not working, and Neil Little
was not getting good defense in front of him.
Martino alone in front of Little. Bang. 1-0
Mulhern comes in on the 2 on 1 with Jardine. Bang. 2-0
Brick dumps one in on Finch that has some speed. Finch doesn't close the
legs in time. 2-1
2 on 1 again. This time it's Clapton. 3-1
Scrum in front of Little. 2 Engineers on the ice and Little. 2 Bears standing.
Kathol backhands it in. 4-1
Fabbro. A Blaster. 5-1
Points:
1) Finch should have had a shutout. Not one shot on him was really any good,
and Geoff did not have to be sppectacular. He gave up a weak goal, but
he was not tested at all.
2) Not converting on the odd man opportunities. Askew and O'Connor on the 2 on
1. O'Connor takes the pass and stuffs it into the pads?
3 on 0 in front of Finch. Matthews holds the puck until he reaches the goalie
instead of passing?
3) Power play outages. 0 for 5. One power play consisted of passing on the
perimeter for a good 1 minute of the power play.
4) The loss drops RPI into 4th place, only 2 points ahead of Colgate and
Vermont. All of a sudden, sure home ice is up in the air.
Boxes:
Friday:
RPI 2 1 2 5
Harv 2 1 4 7
First:
H McCann 14 (Baird, Maguire) 5:47 pp
R Hamelin 10 unassisted 12:29
R Hamelin 11 (Pasco) 16:13
H Farrell 22 (Baird, Body) 18:29
Penalties:
R Perardi (hook) 4:54
H Martins (hi stick) 13:16
Second:
H Farrell 23 (Martins, Maguire) 6:50 pp
R Pasco 13 (Askew, Hamelin) 18:47 pp
Penalties:
R Majic (trip) 6:40
H McCann (trip) 7:34
H Karmanos (board) 11:50
H Cohagan (hit from behind) 17:33
R Perardi (hit after whistle) 19:22
H Neilsen (hit after whistle) 19:22
Third:
H Holmes 5 (Maguire) 1:02
H Craigen 5 (Halfnight, Kennish) 4:06
H Coughlin 10 (Karmanos) 6:09
R Hamelin 12 (Pasco) 11:45
R Majic 8 (Pasco) 13:38
H Baird 4 unassisted 19:10
Penalties:
R Cuthbert (hit after whistle) 8:25
H Holmes (hit after whistle) 8:25
Shots:
RPI 6 17 7 30
Harv 9 10 10 29
Goalies:
RPI Little 14 6 4 22-28
Harv Tracy 7 2 1 25-30
Power Plays:
RPI 1-4
harv 2-2
Saturday:
RPI 0 1 0 1
Brown 1 2 2 5
First:
B Martino 7 unassisted 7:20
Second:
B Mulhern 18 (Jardine) 4:43
R Brick 14 (Cuthbert, RIchardson) 7:12
B Clapton 4 (Martino, Kathol) 17:03
Third:
B Kathol 5 (Martino, Whittet) 2:25
B Fabbro 4 (Smitko) 19:49
Shots:
RPI 16 12 12 40
Brown 11 15 8 34
Goalies:
RPI Little 14-7-4 29-34
Brown Finch 11-5-3 39-40
Power Plays:
RPI 0-5
Brown 0-4
Points:
1) How could you ask for a better weekend to clost the regular season?
Harvard and Brown at the North COuntry, RPI and Union facing Cornell and
Colgate? The ECAC has an exciting weekend coming up.
2) Which shoe will the Engineers wear this weekend?
3) Saturday could be the day. Brown vs. Clarkson. RPI vs. Colgate.
Union vs. Cornell. Vermont vs. Princeton. Wow.
See ya at the Fieldhouse.
Always looking for input on our radio broadcasts as well. Not only the
broadcasts but everything else, intermissions, Hockey COrner COnversations,
College-Hockey The Week in Review on Wednesday nights too. Thanks!
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* Jayson Moy RPI '89 '93 * One of the Voices of Rensselaer Engineer *
* [log in to unmask] * Hockey, Baseball, Football, and Basketball *
* The "J Man" * on Crystal Clear FM Radio, 91.5FM WRPI, Troy*
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